Jharkhand: SP among 5 policemen killed in Maoist attack

A superintendent of police along with his driver and three security guards was killed in a Maoist attack in Jharkhand's Pakur district on Tuesday.

Pakur SP Amarjit Balihar, a 2003 batch IPS officer, his driver and the guards were ambushed by the Naxals when they were returning to Pakur, after attending a meeting in Dumka, a senior official said.

The incident took place near the forests of Amrapa, nearly 400 km from capital Ranchi. The extremists exploded bombs and opened fire on the police vehicles.

Two other policemen who were injured have been admitted to hospital, Dumka Deputy Commissioner Harsh Mangala said.

The senior officer had been targeted by extremists in the past due to his tough stand against the Maoists in Pakur, which has their strong presence.

He is the second SP to fall to the rebels' bullets in the region. On October 4, 2000, the ultras of the People's War, now merged with CPI (Maoist), had killed Lohardaga SP Ajay Kumar Singh in undivided Bihar. Lohardaga later became part of Jharkhand.

At least 200 central paramilitary personnel have been rushed to the spot to nab the extremists who were involved in the attack.